Signature Dishes
        Almost every country in the world knows what Chinese food is and this is not surprising considering the length of China's history. Signature Dishes (sometimes written as Szechuan or Szechwan in the US) in Chinese culture is listed under the Eight Great Traditions of Chinese Cooking; the others are: Anhui, Cantonese, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shandong, and Zhejiang cuisine.

        The signature of Sichuan cooking is its use of chillies and Sichuan peppercorns. The spiciness of Sichuan food is extremely famous and is evident in many American Chinese restaurants where there is bound to be a spicy dish with Sichuan in its name. However an aspect of Sichuan food that is more famous in China is its use of the uniquely flavored Sichuan peppercorn. The Sichuan peppercorn has an intensively fragrant citrus like taste, with the ability to slightly numb the mouth. This spice gives Sichuan food that little extra kick that makes Sichuan food extremely famous in China. Though many foreigners are at first put off by the idea of the numbing qualities of the Sichuan peppercorn, many grow to like the taste as much as the Chinese do. Another note worthy characteristic about Signature Dishes is that it uses more beef than other styles of Chinese cooking, which most likely occurs because oxen are frequently used and are a part of Sichuan culture.

        Signature Dishes hosts an amazing repertoire of dishes; the most famous dishes being Kungpao Chicken, Twice Cooked Pork, Mapo Tofu and Sichuan Hotpot.

Mapo Tofu
        Mapo Tofu, literally translated as "old pockmarked lady tofu", is a well known Chinese dish that has many variations around the world. In many places in America Mapo Tofu has become a vegetarian dish, but traditionally in Sichuan this dish is made with tender chunks of tofu, chili paste, chili oil, chili flakes, Sichuan peppercorns, garlic, scallions, rice wine and ground pork.

        It is said that there used to be an old pockmarked widow who lived on the outskirts of Chengdu, who is the creature of Mapo Tofu. One day a farmer and his son got stuck in a heavy rainstorm and were forced to take shelter at the old widow's house. The old widow was happy to have company and made the dish now known as Mapo Tofu. The farmer and son loved the dish so much that every time they came into the city they would stop by the old widow's place for a meal. Slowly through word of mouth she became famous and visitors from all over would stop by just to eat her cooking.

Kungpao Chicken
        Kungpao Chicken is probably one of the most well known Chinese dishes in the world and has a wide range of variations. This dish traditionally is made with chicken pieces, peanuts, leeks and dried chillies, however common variations include cucumbers and carrots.

        It is said that his dish created during the late Qing Dynasty, by Ding Baozhen (1820-1886) and subsequently named after him. Ding Baozhen was a palatial guardian, which in Chinese is called Gong Bao. The English name of Kungpao Chicken, is the old Romanization of the Chinese title and has stuck with the dish ever since.

Hot Pot
        Sichuan Hot Pot is not really a type of dish, but more of a style of eating. A large pot of boiling broth is placed on the middle of the table and raw food is placed all around the table. You place what you want to eat in the boiling soup and wait for it to cook. Since hotpot is so famous, many areas have made their own adaptations to meet local culinary tastes; however Sichuan's soup is usually made of a meat stock, chilies, Sichuan pepper, and other spices. Also traditionally the pot is kept hot with coals, but now many people just use hotplates to keep the broth boiling.


Twice Cooked Pork
        This dish is incredibly popular among in northern Sichuan and takes its name from how the pork is prepared. First, fatty chunks of pork belly are boiled with ginger and salt. After it is taken out, thinly sliced, and then usually stir fried with cabbage and peppers.

        The history of this dish dates back to the Qing Dynasty. It is said that the dish originated when the Emperor Qianlong toured Sichuan. When the emperor reached one particular village where the crops did poorly that year everyone was very nervous, because they did not know what to feed the emperor. It is said that the nervous villagers hastily threw leftovers into their wok and gave the resulting food to the emperor. The emperor liked it so much that the dish became famous in Sichuan.